When going on an extended trip it is always difficult for me to choose which LEGO friends to bring along. Favorites? Fresh inspiration? The stars of whatever current project is in the works? The possibilities are endless and the consequences seemingly dire. Who hasn’t been in the field wishing that they had packed a specific mini figure or accessory?
I am about to leave on a two week sojourn across the old country (read Europe) with my eldest child in tow. Although this trip started out as a final mother / daughter adventure before my daughter heads off to university, it has morphed into a full blown two week photo safari. Not exactly something either one of us had bargained for, but I am looking forward to it.
Before my adventures end in Stockholm for the epic #balticphotosafari, I will be making stops in Berlin, Hamburg and Billund to visit lego photography friends. These wonderful Instagram friends (@issogud.62, @herrk and @julochka respectively) have all thrown out the welcome mat and I am excited for whatever adventures and experiences await.
But that still leaves the question of who to pack?
So far I have over 120 misc figures (classic space, vikings, pirates, divers, customs, TMNT, Minecraft, fairy unicorns, Deadpool, prototype Bob Fett, yetis, skeletons, chickens, Chima, etc) a few dinosaurs, one dragon, a few space ships, three small boats and one very cute robot. I have also packed three small bins of miscellaneous accessories, scooters, bikes and small animals. Even with all of this, I know I will get there and wish I had brought something else.
This past Sunday I went out in the field with @Dinoczars, @Wiiman and @carteraug21 for a lovely morning of shooting in one of my favorite spots. I didn’t want to pack even more toys, so I grabbed the toys I had already packed for my upcoming adventure. I am so glad I did. What an uninspiring lot of LEGO it was! I had intended to branch out and try some new toys, move beyond my tired favorites, but now I realize there is a reason I keep shooting Chima, Classic Space, Minecraft, Unicorn Fairies and the little Robot…they work for me.
So I spent that evening repacking my LEGO. I removed the Hotdog Guy, Scooby-Doo, The Simpsons and a few more that I will never photograph; they are not my muses.
~ xxSJC
Ps – How many LEGO do you take when you go on vacation? One? A small bin? Or overkill like me?
PPS – I do envy the toy photographer who can bring five mini figures (or even just one) on an extended trip and have that be more than enough inspiration. I am learning to pack less clothes, maybe I can learn to pack less LEGO. Just not THIS trip.
I usually pack about 25-30 Lego figures and 3-4 Dunny figures. This time I have decided to take the ones that I haven’t photoed for a while (or at-all in some cases) plus the usual suspects like Deadpool, the grey aliens, spacemen, and the TMNT.. For accessories I take only abour a small pack (maybe 30 pieces).. 🙂
THIS time?? Coming to STO as well??
I haven’t gone on a trip, but Deadpool, his alter-ego Pigpool (separate figure, Deaddy’s head in a piggy costume figure), a classic astronaut, some version of Spiderman and an alien usually come with me to work every single day. And that’s just the standard grouping.
It’s always down to a couple of Stormtroopers for me – I tend to see them as being more versatile!
I’ve been thinking about who’ll get a travel ticket on my way to Sweden as well- until I found I will not be the only soul that’s stuck in plastic up there! I’ll take a handful of usual suspects with me and hoping to meet other characters along the way. (ok,ok, of course I’ll plan out 3-5 scenes to shoot, the rest will just happen)
When I go to Portugal, I pack somewhere between 8-12 minifigs. I usually plan to follow a storyline there, such as Trendsetter and Hipster’s decision to take a honeymoon in Lisbon without actually getting married first. (A good thing too. It didn’t last.) My reason for taking so few figures is to avoid having too many characters in my story because it draws the focus away from the main characters. The reason I take more than four or five is sometimes I don’t know who the key secondary characters will be, and even the main character may emerge in the course of the trip and the story.
The good thing is that I don’t need to pack for the #baltictoysafari 🙂
It really depends if I travel for a full adventure, or I travel for Darth on a Big Inc. adventure. In case I travel on a big adventure I normally take about two full travel bags of gear, and a few hundred friends along.
If I travel for Big Inc. my selection is limited and fits nicely in my hand luggage amongst all my other stuff.
It’s a constant struggle. There are figures I’d really like to photography more (60’s Batman, classic spaceman, skeleton), but they just don’t work for me yet.
It’s almost like I have to get to know a minifigure before I can work with them. They have to fit into a story so I need to know a bit of their history (which is pretty easy for me with Star Wars figures).
I don’t think I’ve ever taken more than 6 figure anywhere with me. Even then I’ve probably only used one or two.